


"RE: Yesterday's Stream"

by ZombieMerlin



Series: Danny the ViewTuber [3]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen, some original characters - Freeform, until I finally decide who "waterissowet" is at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2020-10-25 21:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20731145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieMerlin/pseuds/ZombieMerlin
Summary: "DannyFenton has invited you to join a stream. Do you accept?"[ ( ) Yes]   [ ( ) No]Valerie knows she's only being invited to whatever because of what happened yesterday. Danny being Phantom? That makes no sense, so...[ (✓) Yes]   [ ( ) No]---Bonus: Dash sticks around at the end of the stream.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna know "what happened in the stream," then I suggest reading [the fic before this first](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19661029). Otherwise, you can just guess if you want. :)

"Okay, you're all here, so I'm gonna start." 

Danny blows out a sigh, briefly lifting his bangs out of his eyes.The screen captures a plethora of space-related memorabilia, including a fully constructed model rocket on his bedside, a poster of Saturn on the wall just over his shoulder, and a quirky little green alien of some sort wrapped around the left corner of his bed frame. 

Valerie completely forgot about his space thing. He doesn't bring it up unless asked, but then he can go on and on about his favorite planetary bodies and random astral events and the "total wrongness" or "absolute crazy" of not accepting Pluto as a planet anymore. 

She kinda wishes she had that Danny right now, gushing about the stars with wild gestures and a smile on his face, instead of this tired-looking ragdoll staring out at her from her laptop screen. She shifts under her sheets and rolls onto her stomach, sinking her chin into a pillow with her laptop in front of her. She may as well get comfortable.

Danny seems subdued. More so than normal, at least. He says nothing for a long moment, gently letting his head fall back against the bed frame behind him. There's no earpiece in his ear this time, likely because he's fully capable of seeing the chat on the laptop he's likely using. The first stream was the day before, and it's hard to forget the way he'd ended it in a panic after realizing the camera was still running. 

Outside of the fact that he looks like he needs to sleep for about six years, he looks... normal. He's just that dork that adores Sumo Slammers, has abysmal self-esteem, jams to Dumpty Humpty, and sucks at bowling. He's _Danny. _

She can't understand how _this _kid is Phantom. It kind of explains a lot, in some ways, but it also makes zero sense at all. 

_dbaxindahouse: wats this about, Fenton? _

Valerie rolls her eyes and shifts again to mouse over to the chat box. 

_Val_Grey: isn't it obvious? _

_NateOfTheKnight: The only people that were invited to this stream are the ones that were in the other stream... except Sam and Tucker, but clearly they already knew._

_Star Butterfly: oh_

_obi kwan Kenobi: That makes sense. Your side ok, dude? Looked pretty gnarly yesterday. _

_dbaxindahouse: so u finally gonna explain how u did it then? _

_obi kwan Kenobi: what do you mean "how you did it?" You think he faked that? _

_dbaxindahouse: well yea. theres no way Fenton is Phantom. sure he put on a sick show but nobody can be a ghost and a person. thats stupid_

Danny huffs out a tired breath of a laugh, hand moving almost unconsciously to his side. "Yeah, I'm fine, Kwan. Thanks for asking." He pointedly doesn't address Dash's comment.****

_dbaxindahouse: wat r u laffing at? _

_Wes2Weston: can I say something? _

_WaterIsSoWet: no_

_Wes2Weston: ..._

_NateOfTheKnight: Please don't. _

_Wes2Weston: I TOLD YOU SO I FREAKING TOLD ALL OF YOU AND YOU DDIDN'T LISTEN BUT NOOOW LOOK!!!_

_Wes2Weston: okay carry on_

"Wes, could you just... not?" he asks. His fatigue seems to increase tenfold, and Valerie almost wants to feel bad for him. Almost. Kind of? She's not sure what she's feeling at the moment. Danny scrubs a hand over his face and stares absently at some point off-camera. Then, he looks back at the camera for a long, quiet moment.

_Wes2Weston: there he goes with the staring thing again_

Danny frowns. "Staring thing...? Whatever. Look." Danny straightens, eyes steely. The change is instant and almost startling— the sudden spark of determination echoes the look in his eyes from the other stream. It's pretty weird. Valerie almost feels like the expression doesn't belong on his face, like he shouldn't be capable of whatever mindset he's just snapped himself into. It's just not him. Then again, she supposes there's a lot she doesn't know about him. 

"You guys can't tell _anyone. _About the Phantom thing. You're all here in this private stream because there are lives at stake here, not just my own. There are people out there that want me dead." 

He pauses, as if to let it sink in. Valerie swallows. He seems so... not "at peace" with the fact, that's not the right way to describe it. Yet, he doesn't seem afraid or _bothered _that he's pretty much constantly at risk of not making it out of a fight.

Then again... Phantom is a ghost. Doesn't that mean Danny's dead? What does he have to worry about? He can't possibly be alive and dead at the same time, and living people can't walk through walls, disappear, or fly without some sort of help, so... that means... Danny _has_ to be dead.

Valerie sits back, stunned at the realization. Danny's dead. She feels. Hmm. Sad? And also angry, but she's trying very hard to table her hatred for Phantom out of concern for the sweet boy she broke up with to _protect. _

This is wrong. Someone should be mourning him, or, or remembering him or something, but he's still walking around. The weird obligatory sadness she knows she should feel upon hearing of someone's death is overshadowed by confusion. How do you grieve for someone who's isn't gone? 

How _could _you grieve for someone that's still around that ruined your life? Because dead or not, that's still very much a thing that he did. She just can't understand why. 

_NateOfTheKnight: So... you're NOT dead? And don't you mean ghosts AND people? _

Danny hesitates. Valerie hasn't even thought to actually ask him the question. 

"That's a complicated question. The easy answer is yes and no? And ghosts are still people, they're just a different kind of people." He shakes his head as if to get himself back on track, leaning in towards the camera. "But listen, that's beside the point. I can talk about that later. The point is that there are people out there that want me dead, and they aren't afraid to use my friends and family against Phantom if this got out."

_Wes2Weston: people like the Guys in White? _

_Star Butterfly: ... or your parents? _

_obi kwan kenobi: or the red huntress? _

Valerie scoffs. She'd never hurt _people. _Living people, at least. Her primary target has always been Phantom. How could he possibly think she'd attack innocent people to get to him?

Sure, it kinda makes sense, when she thinks about it— using Phantom's allies to lure him out. And there _was_ that little ghost girl, Danielle that one time... but Danielle was human, so Valerie helped save her. If Valerie had to lure Phantom again, she wouldn't hurt her bait unless they were just a ghost, because ghosts are bad news. 

All of them. Even... Danny? 

"Yeah," Danny says quietly, his expression pained as his eyes flicker downward. He clears his throat and looks up at the camera again. "Yeah, like them. Especially the GiW." 

_Val_Grey: the Red Huntress wouldn't hurt your family._

_obi kwan kenobi: how would you know that? She's pretty vicious, the way she goes after Phantom_

_Val_Grey: I know who she is. Her thing is hunting Phantom, she wouldn't hurt humans to do so. That's not her M.O._

"Valerie, you don't know how huge of a relief that is," Danny says with his familiar toothy grin. As quickly as it appears, though, it fades. He sombers. "But as much as I want to unpack that, I need to know first that you guys _won't. Say. Anything." _

_NateOfTheKnight: I wouldn't. Phantom saved my sister's life, and has probably saved me indirectly dozens of times. And you've always been decent to me at school when a lot of other people aren't. _

_obi kwan kenobi: I'm good, dude, Phantom's cool. _

_Wes2Weston: @Val_Grey YOU KNOW THE RED HUNTRESS??!?!!_

_WaterIsSoWet: sure, man. Gotta keep your superhero secret identity a secret, I get that. _

_dbaxindahouse: why shouldnt I? ur literally making a huge deal over something that isn't even real_

_Star Butterfly: mmm problem_

Danny stares. "Dash, what... do you think this is, man? A joke?" 

_dbaxindahouse: there's no way Phantom would just let me wail on him at school every day, thats stupid_

"Oh my f—" Danny grips his hair roughly, so hard it looks almost painful, before throwing up his hands in obvious annoyance. "You know what, Dash? Maybe I am stupid, and maybe this is just a game to you. Maybe I did have hundreds of opportunities to do something so I'd never have to see you again, but what would that accomplish, exactly? What do you expect me to do? Beat you up and get the entire football team to come after me? Get myself another detention? I've gotten in trouble for _looking _at you the wrong way, dude." 

His eyes started glowing at some point, and his frustration is practically tangible, even through the camera. He closes them now and takes a deep breath. When he opens them again, they're back to their normal color, and the anger seems to have drained out of him. 

"I don't care how much you beat me up, Dash, but I'm literally asking you to do this _one _thing for me." 

Dash says nothing in response. It's so hard to believe that Danny is also a dangerous ghost that's wrecked every part of town at least once. In his little slip-up with the eyes, though, Valerie remembers, and the rage slowly starts bubbling up. 

_Val_Grey: how can you guys trust him? Don't you remember him kidnapping the mayor? Robbing a bank and a jewelry store? Destroying Axion Industries??? _

_Star Butterfly: oh, yeah, that's a problem, too_

"None of that was my fault!" Danny cries. "I was being controlled! The robbery stuff was _Freakshow! _Think about it. Me acting all evil or whatever overlapped completely with him showing up with Circus Gothica. When he got arrested, I was back to myself. My eyes were _literally _red, y'all, I don't get how people didn't figure out that something was up. And I was totally framed for the mayor thing, but that's kind of a long story."

_Val_Grey: Axion Industries happened nowhere near Freakshow rolling into town. _

Danny groans, tugging at his hair. "I've tried so many times to explain this to you, and you won't _listen!" _

Of course she wouldn't listen, why would she listen to a— wait. Wait. 

Wait.

Phantom has tried talking to the Red Huntress, and she's ignored him. Phantom has never tried to talk to _Valerie, _and Fenton's never tried to "explain" Axion to her... 

_Val_Grey: ...what's that supposed to mean? _

Danny seems confused for a moment, before getting the same "oh crap" look on his face he had when he realized he'd spilled his secret over the stream. He sighs, sitting back and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Jeez, I need to quit doing that." 

Quit doing what? 

_Val_Grey: Fenton, what do you mean?_

_Star Butterfly: I TOLD PEOPLE. _

_Val_Grey: ..._

_WaterIsSoWet: ....._

_Wes2Weston: ..............._

_NateOfTheKnight: I hope you don't mean what I think you mean. _

Valerie hasn't ever seen someone's stress levels visibly increase quite as exponentially as Danny's seem to over the next few seconds. "You did what?" he asks in a horrified whisper. 

_Star Butterfly: i didnt even know it was a secret to be fair. And besides, im like the worst secret keeper in the history of ever! _

_obi kwan kenobi: ...you mean youre the biggest gossip in the history of ever_

_Star Butterfly: that's what I said_

_WaterIsSoWet: well this complicates things_

_NateOfTheKnight: I mean. Didn't his reaction to the whole thing kind of imply that he wasn't planning on telling anyone? I feel like that should have clued you in to the fact that it's a secret. _

_Star Butterfly: that makes no sense, how could anyone have looked into it that deeply? _

_Wes2Weston: @Star Butterfly I did. There's a reason he kept it hidden for so long??_

_obi kwan kenobi: @Star Butterfly I picked up on that too. Dude seemed freaked out, so like. I didn't say anything. It was pretty obvious_

_WaterIsSoWet: lol same as @obi kwan kenobi_

_Star Butterfly: well then_

_Val_Grey: hello?? Can we go back to my thing??? _

She huffs, annoyed at how quickly the conversation is spinning away from whatever new thing Danny's hiding from her. Star spilling may be a bit more urgent of an issue, though, so Valerie can let it go. For now. 

She didn't tell anyone either, for the record. Star's definitely just oblivious. 

"Who did you tell?" Danny presses. 

_Star Butterfly: I told some of my friends... uh... how long has it been since the stream?_

_Wes2Weston: uh. Almost 24 hours? _

_Star Butterfly: yeah I think it's safe to just assume the entire school knows_

Danny groans loudly and falls back onto his bed, covering his face with both hands. "I can't believe this is my life."

_NateOfTheKnight: What are you going to do? _

Danny, currently despairing, doesn't see the message. 

_WaterIsSoWet: wait, wait, we can still work with this_

_obi kwan kenobi: how??_

_WaterIsSoWet: okay, there's a lot to think about here. i find it hard to believe word of mouth spreads THAT fast, but there's also not really a good way to figure out how many people already know. that's fine, this can still be contained_

"What are you suggesting, 'water is _not _wet'?" Danny asks, having sat up to pay attention to the conversation again. 

_WaterIsSoWet: doing what you did with us. There's no point in hiding it. _

_Wes2Weston: uh. It seems like there's plenty of reason to hide it?? _

_obi kwan kenobi: If star's the only source of the intel, then why not just deny it? _

_NateOfTheKnight: Danny's word against an A-lister's? Really? _

_obi kwan kenobi: oh. right. _

_Wes2Weston: fair point_

_WaterIsSoWet: ANYWAY_

_WaterIsSoWet: like I said_

_WaterIsSoWet: there's no point in hiding it. _

_WaterIsSoWet: so... the best thing you can do is keep it from spreading outside of the school. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Edit 3/35/2020:** added a detail about Valerie and Danielle to better fit canon.
> 
> **Edit 5/21/2020:** Made some minor grammar/wording fixes.


	2. dbaxindahouse is still online

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Edit 5/21/2020:** Made some minor grammar/wording fixes.

_dbaxindahouse: do it again_

Fenton blinks, hand pausing on his laptop. He'd been about to close it, apparently not realizing someone was still watching. "Dash? Do what again?" 

_dbaxindahouse: the phantom thing_

Fenton frowns, shifting backward and sitting cross-legged. "I don't really see what that's supposed to do, Dash. Aren't you convinced that I'm faking it? How do you know I won't just 'fake it' again?" 

Ugh. Why is he so annoying? 

_dbaxindahouse: just do it fenton_

Fenton rolls his eyes, but doesn't protest again. The same white ring appears at his waist as he rests an elbow on his knee, propping his head up in boredom as the ring splits. One moves upwards, and the other moves down, expanding to get around his crossed legs. The two rings then promptly pop out of existence. 

Phantom sits there, wearing the same bored expression Fenton had on not two seconds ago. A now-gloved hand props up his head, and white hair falls into his face just like Fenturd's does. 

It doesn't make sense. 

"Happy?" Phantom asks, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Dash squints at his phone screen, eyes glued to the bottom of the video frame. Phantom has started floating almost lazily, hovering about an inch off the bed with no apparent effort. _How? _

There's no way Fenton could have prepared for this. He couldn't have rigged ropes or whatever to hold him up. Even if he did, he hadn't moved _much_ when he "changed," so he couldn't have hit a button or something to get him above his bed. 

But that other nerd. Tucker. That kid knows about computers 'n' shit. That's probably what's happening. 

_dbaxindahouse: how do I know ur tech dork isnt messing w the stream? _

Phantom rolls his eyes. The ring appears again, and Fenton falls back to the bed with a muffled _thud. _"Why does this matter to you so much? I'm not asking you to believe me, I'm asking you not to say anything about it." 

Why does it _matter? _How could he say that? Danny Phantom is a literal superhero! There's no way he could be lame-o Fenton. That doesn't make any sense! Superheros beat up bad guys. Fenton runs away from his own shadow.

_dbaxindahouse: cuz Phantom is a superhero_

_dbaxindahouse: superheros dont just sit there n let themselves get pummled. but u do. _

"Honestly? Yeah. I thought about it a lot when I first got my powers, and I'm not gonna say I haven't pranked you or your friends a few times. But like... what, beating you up in revenge? That's not right." 

That's... not the response Dash was expecting. He'd been waiting for Fenton to try to make up some excuse for wimping out and letting Dash throw him around. Not... not this.

_dbaxindahouse: y NOT??? id TOTALLY do it if i were u_

Danny snorts humorlessly. "You ever heard of a moral code, Dash? It's like... I dunno. It's a responsibility thing." 

Moral code? What does that even mean? Unless...

_dbaxindahouse: like a bro code? _

"Uh. Sure, yeah, why not?" Fenton shifts, moving the laptop so it balances on his lap. "Okay, so I have a bro code with myself, right? And that self-bro code keeps me straight. Beating you up would break my bro code." 

Oh. 

_dbaxindahouse: you never break bro code_

"Exactly." 

That... okay. Wow. If... if Fenton's faking, he's really getting into it...

Alright. Honestly? When Dash thinks about it? It _does _make sense, Fenton being Phantom. Running off right before Phantom shows up, always having to "go to the bathroom" during class and then never coming back, and just being really creepy sometimes... All of it. _It makes sense._

Dash just doesn't want to believe it. Doesn't want to think about what it'd mean if it's true. 

_dbaxindahouse: I guess ur off limits now then_

Fenton frowns. "'Off-limits?'"

_dbaxindahouse: yeah. i cant beat on a superhero, thatd make me a bad guy. plus I think that breaks like four bro codes_

"...you don't think you're a bad guy?"

_dbaxindahouse: now that im not gonna hit u anymore, no_

Fenton cocks his head to the side, brows furrowed like he's genuinely confused. Then, slowly, he says, "Good guys don't beat people up and shove people into lockers when they've done nothing wrong, Dash. You have to know that." 

Well. Sure, Dash knows that. But he's not a _bad _guy. He knows that "good guys" or whatever don't act like he does, but that doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Bad guys kill people and steal things and ruin people's lives. He doesn't do that. Right? 

He takes so long to respond that Danny rolls his eyes and reaches forward to grab the top of the laptop like he's going to close it. Dash scrambles to type something. 

_dbaxindahouse: i mean_

Danny pauses. 

_dbaxindahouse: thats just fun w my buds tho_

_dbaxindahouse: that doesn't actually hurt anybody_

"Doesn't actually hurt anyb— are you _serious?" _

Fenton's eyes are that creepy ghost green again, and he looks _pissed. _Dash gulps. 

"Do you know how many bruises Tucker and I and everyone else you and the A-listers pick on have gotten from you and your buddies having _fun? _Do you think it's fun for Tuck when he has to lie to his parents about how he's getting hurt so often? You think it's fun that someone you _hurt _transferred to a different school and has to go to a freaking therapist now because of how bad his claustrophobia is? Which, by the way, only got so bad because you shoved him in a locker, and no one got him out for an entire weekend."

Wait, what? Oh. Wait. Dash remembers the kid Fenton's talking about, but only because he was the only nerd small enough to fit into the half-size lockers. 

_That's _why that kid stopped showing up? 

"Do you think it's _fun _for me when I have to deal with you punching me in the stomach and literally puncturing a lung because I already had a broken rib? Some of the ghosts may want me dead, but at least _they _don't torture people for no reason." 

...what? 

No.

That's not... holy crap... 

Dash didn't... not on purpose. Come on. He doesn't _torture _people, that's way too harsh. Torturing is hurting people for information or to get someone to do something or... or because you enjoy it, he guesses, but that's not...

Oh, god. 

Did he...

_dbaxindahouse: did_

_dbaxindahouse: did i kill u? _

Fenton stares, seeming... confused? Dash isn't sure why until he says, "That's all you got out of that? Seriously?" 

It's not. But Dash needs to know. He _has _to know. 

Fenton doesn't respond to the question, though. Instead, he seems like he's waiting for an answer. Dash's thumbs hover over his phone's keyboard, but he isn't sure what to say. He didn't know. He didn't know Fenton was already hurt, he didn't know that no one ever got that random kid out of that locker, he didn't... he didn't _know. _

"Sorry" doesn't seem like enough. It feels stupid. Fake. 

Danny eventually shakes his head, scoffing. His eyes are back to the normal blue, and he just looks... tired. The same kinda tired that he seems to be sometimes when Dash is beating on him. Dash has never understood it until now. 

"Think about it, Dash," Danny eventually says, voice quiet. He shuts his laptop, and the stream goes dark. 

He never answered the question. 


End file.
